Ricardo Motorsport has announced a three-year contract to supply Dallara, one of the world’s leading motorsport chassis manufacturers, with transmissions for two new chassis for use in international single seat race series.

Ricardo will design, manufacture and supply Dallara with 40 transmissions for the Spanish based Open Telefonica Formula Nissan series, similar in concept to Formula 3000, and the American based IRL Infiniti Pro Series, the support series for the Indy Racing League.

Both series will use fundamentally the same longitudinal transaxle, designed by Ricardo to offer high levels of performance and durability combined with simplicity. The 6-speed sequential shift transmission with a 500Nm torque capacity, features a gear cluster positioned ahead of the differential. This feature enables exacting structural and crash test requirements to be met.

Commenting on its first venture into the supply of a ‘formula’ transmission to a recognised racecar chassis manufacturer, Mark Barge director of Ricardo motorsport transmissions said: “We’re delighted to be supplying and supporting Dallara in Spain and America. Both race series are important stepping-stones for many talented up and coming drivers and engineers. Our transmission has been designed not only to be cost competitive but also, by drawing upon our proven race-winning technical expertise, to provide individuals racing in both series with an opportunity to experience a cutting-edge gearbox similar to those used at the very highest levels of motorsport.”

The Dallara transmissions are being engineered, manufactured and hand assembled at the Ricardo Midlands Technical Centre near Leamington Spa in the British Midlands.

Ricardo engineers have also been responsible for the bulletproof longitudinal gearbox in the Le Mans winning Audi R8, which Ricardo is supplying again this year in order to support Audi’s ambition of winning the le Mans race for a third consecutive year. Ricardo likewise developed a special high performance transmission last year to help Volkswagen crack the world 24-hour speed record with a special W12 prototype sportscar. The company has previously supplied transmissions for Ferrari, Jaguar and McLaren road-going sportscars.

Note to editors:
Ricardo is one of the foremost independent automotive engineering consultancies with technical centres in the UK, USA, Germany and Czech Republic. Working on more than 500 engine, driveline and vehicle engineering projects globally, the company is a world-leading technology provider of research and design services for the motor and motorsport industries. Ricardo employs 1,500 people of whom 70 per cent are highly qualified multi-disciplined professional engineers and technicians. The public company reported a turnover last year of £140m and is a constituent of the FTSE techMark100 index.